


Nerds And Spiders

by arminjagers



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 11:24:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10359360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arminjagers/pseuds/arminjagers
Summary: Pearl gets rid of a spider in Amethyst's room, and is accused of being a "nerd".





	

**Author's Note:**

> warning for arachnophobia, but its nothing too detailed. i hope u enjoy! <3

It wasn't often Pearl had time to herself; Steven was with Greg, Amethyst was in her room, probably eating garbage or something strange like that, and Garnet was off on a mission. With the house to herself, it was the perfect time to make some tea and relax. 

Pearl wasn't a fan of _drinking_ tea, or anything at all, really, but she found comfort in its scent and warmth. She made sure the tea never went to waste, however, and always offered the tea (and the tea bag) to Amethyst once she was done taking in its scent and enjoying the warmth. 

She filled up a kettle with water, placing it on the stove. After turning on the heat, she lifted herself up onto the counter and sighed with content, allowing herself to relax for a moment - but not for too long. The temple door opened and Amethyst came running into the kitchen, nearly tripping over her feet. "Pearl, Pearl!" she gasped, hurrying over to the counter. "Spider. _Huge_ spider in my room. Can you get rid of it, please?" she begged, grabbing the bottom of Pearl's tunic. 

Pearl nudged Amethyst's hand away, not in the mood to be touched, and a bit annoyed that her peace had been disrupted... Amethyst was the last gem she expected to be afraid of spiders, and for a moment, Pearl thought she was joking, but the look of panic in Amethyst's eyes made it clear she was being serious. 

"...Alright, show me where it is." Pearl said, turning off the stove and moving the tea kettle off of the burner. 

"It was REALLY big... like, bigger than any spider I've ever seen before." Amethyst said, leading Pearl into her room. "It had really long legs, but a tiny body... and it was sitting on my favorite broken T.V.!" 

Pearl looked around at the mounds of garbage in the room, crossing her arms. "You know, spiders wouldn't be attracted to your room if you didn't collect so much trash..." 

"Hey, I never had a problem with spiders until recently. Ants, roaches, sure, those are fine, but spiders are a whole nother story." Amethyst said, shuddering. 

They soon found Amethyst's broken T.V., and as expected, a spider was perched right on top of it. "That's not _nearly_ as large as you made it out to be, Amethyst. I've seen much bigger spiders around here." Pearl said, crouching down and scooping it up, cupping it in her hands. 

Amethyst squeaked. "Agh, don't touch it! I thought you were just gonna squash it or something!" 

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. This is harmless. Actually, it's not even a spider! It's a daddy long legs, or a harvestmen. I prefer to use the latter." Pearl said, peeking at the little creature she had trapped in her hands. "It's an arachnid, sure, but belongs to the opilione order, separate from spiders. I can't blame you for thinking it's a spider, though; it's a common misconception." 

Amethyst let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "Nerd. If it has eight legs, I'm calling it a spider anyway." she said, but couldn't help but smile a little. 

"What about scorpions? Those have eight legs, but I don't see you labeling those as spiders." Pearl huffed. She wished Amethyst wouldn't be so stubborn. 

"Pfft." Amethyst rolled her eyes again, leading Pearl over to the door. "You know what I meant. Just throw the ugly harvestguy outside." 

"So pushy." Pearl huffed. "And it's harvest _man_. And I'm not a 'nerd', whatever that is." 

"You say that, as you continue to be a nerd." Amethyst said, rolling her eyes again as she opened the door for Pearl. 

"What even _is_ a nerd? Enlighten me." Pearl said. She walked over to the window, which was thankfully already open, and un-cupped her hands, letting the harvestman scurry down the side of the house. 

"Uhh..." Amethyst leaned against the kitchen table, thinking for a moment. "It's someone who's really smart and doesn't shut up about it." 

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Pearl said, shutting the window and heading back over to the stove. She poured some of the steaming water into her favorite mug, and placed a tea bag inside. 

"Ehh, yeah... You wouldn't get it, though, because you're a nerd." Amethyst snorted. "Why do you know so much about spiders - or uh, _harvestmen_ , sorry - anyway?" 

Pearl sat down on the stool beside Amethyst, inhaling the sweet smell of her green tea. "I guess I sort of retain a lot of information... A few years ago, when we found out Steven would be living with us, I decided to do some research to ensure he'd be safe under our care... I studied all about the human body, all of their needs, all of the things that could potentially harm them... A lot of things on Earth are rather dangerous to humans; it's shocking! And I did some research on arachnids, since I knew some of them have been known to kill humans, and I wanted to know which ones were safe and which ones were dangerous. And well, I guess I still remember everything I learned from that!" Pearl said, setting her cup down on the table and sighing. "You'll never know the relief I felt when I learned that most of the dangerous Earth creatures lived on another part of the planet... But I worry for humans who live in Australia, hah!" 

Pearl blushed, realizing how long she'd been talking. Surprisingly, Amethyst was still listening, and had a strange smile on her face. "Ah, that's cool! That you went out of your way to learn all that stuff for him, I mean." Amethyst blushed, sitting down beside Pearl and resting her elbow on the table. "Uh, so, what other stuff do you remember? If you wanna keep going, I mean." 

Pearl smiled a bit, folding her hands on her lap. "Aw, thank you, Amethyst. I wasn't expecting you to be so interested in my rambling." she said. "Well... I learned that the majority of spiders are _not_ deadly to humans. Most of them can bite, and will leave a painful rash on their skin, but it's rare that someone is actually killed by a spider. Also, their venom does _not_ affect gems, so you have nothing to worry about if you happen to see another one in your room." 

"Eh, it's not really the venom part I'm worried about. I just don't like how many legs they have. It's not fair. It's probably their fault snakes and worms don't have any." Amethyst joked, snorting. 

"Actually, there is a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with spiders!" Pearl said, brightening up. "They simply have no use for limbs, since they spend most of their lives tunneling through mud. Having limbs would be useless, and make tunneling a difficult task." She flapped her hands as she spoke, smiling brightly. 

Amethyst raised an eyebrow, giving Pearl a strange look. "I was kidding, but uh, that's cool, heh." 

Pearl blushed, glancing to the side and resting her hands on her lap. "Oh - sorry about that, haha! I guess when the opportunity arises, I can't help but ramble." 

"No, don't be sorry. It's cute." Amethyst said, blushing a bit as well. 

Pearl covered her face with her hands. "Ah - you're too sweet..." Unsure how to handle the compliment, Pearl simply changed the subject. "Oh, do you want my tea bag?" 

"Oh, uh, sure!" Amethyst said, taking the tea bag from Pearl's mug and tossing it into her mouth. "...But I'm serious. It's cute when you're all passionate about science stuff. You don't have to apologize for it." 

"Oh, please, I'm not cute!" Pearl said, blushing. "You, on the other hand..." 

"Pfft, no. You're cute!" Amethyst said, waving a hand dismissively. "Cuter than I'll ever be." 

"No, _you're_ cute!" Pearl giggled, unable to look Amethyst in the eyes. 

"No," Amethyst leaned in towards Pearl's face, grabbing her by the chin and turning her face towards her own. " _You_ are." 

Pearl stared at her with wide eyes, shocked by the sudden change in Amethyst's tone... This conversation had taken quite the turn, but she wasn't gonna protest, either. Amethyst's face was right in front of hers, and her lips were so tempting. She slowly leaned in, bringing her lips to Amethyst's soft, plump ones, and placed her hands on her shoulders. 

They held the kiss for a few moments, before Amethyst pulled away, her face blushing dark purple. "Heh... now you got the idea." she said, stroking Pearl's cheek. "I swear, you can be so oblivious to flirting..." she said. 

"I guess I am, because I didn't realize you were flirting until you were right in front of my face." Pearl said, her face bright teal as well. 

"I figured." Amethyst said, resting her elbow on the table. "...I flirt with you, like, every day. Don't you ever notice?" 

"I do! W-well, sometimes... I just never know how to _react_ to flirting, or how to flirt back, or..." Pearl shrugged, grabbing a spoon from the counter so she could anxiously stir her tea, even though there wasn't any sugar or milk to be stirring in. Amethyst watched her, amused by how flustered she'd gotten. She rest a hand on top of Pearl's, squeezing it gently, and Pearl eventually squeezed back. 

"Wanna kiss again?" Amethyst suggested after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, aside from the clinking of Pearl's spoon in her cup. 

"I think you just read my mind." Pearl said, placing her spoon down and turning to Amethyst. With a bright smile, she pulled her into a hug and brought their lips together once again.


End file.
